A Couple's Rebirth to 1977 Before Marriage

Because she had spent half the night lost in thought, Zhou Lian felt too sluggish to get out of bed in the morning. When Sister Fang came in to check on her, she saw that Zhou Lian was fine and had just slept poorly, so she decided to indulge her this once, letting her sleep in and eat whenever she woke up.

Seeing Li Xiu laden with bags of all sizes, and then little Nuonuo strapped to his chest, Sister Fang’s heart ached. She hurried forward, unfastened the wrap holding Nuonuo, and carefully took the little girl into her arms. "Nuonuo," she asked gently, "tell Aunt Fang, did it hurt having Daddy carry you like that?"

Nuonuo had an excellent memory. Seeing the affectionate Sister Fang, she wrapped her little arms around her neck and said, "Aunt Fang, Nuonuo missed you so, so much!"

"Really? Aunt Fang missed Nuonuo so, so much too. How about Aunt Fang gives Nuonuo a nice bath, okay, Nuonuo..."

Watching speechlessly as Sister Fang carried Nuonuo straight into the east wing, Li Xiu shook his head in resignation. ’Honestly, Sister Fang... She could have at least said hello, or told me where my wife is.’

"Nuonuo’s father, Nuonuo’s mother went to bed late last night and isn’t up yet. Keep your voice down!" Sister Fang poked her head out of the kitchen and whispered the instruction to Li Xiu. As soon as she finished, she ducked her head back in, ignoring him.

The two brothers stood in the courtyard, stunned for a moment. Then Li Xiu said, "Your sister-in-law isn’t up yet. Let’s be quiet. Put your things down. I’ll take you to get a shower first, and we can eat when we get back." ’Spending a day and a night on the train in the middle of summer... the smell is really something else.’

By the time Li Xiu returned with Li Bao from their showers, Sister Fang had already bathed Nuonuo and changed her into fresh clothes. Breakfast was even set on the table. Seeing his daughter clinging to Sister Fang, Li Xiu said, "You all go ahead and eat. I’m going to check on Bao’er!"

Sister Fang continued feeding Nuonuo without even looking up. Li Bao was still a bit dazed, sitting there blankly watching Li Xiu, who had already gone inside. Sister Fang looked up at Li Bao’s expression and smiled to herself. ’That Li Xiu... he really has eyes for no one but his wife. He brings someone home and doesn’t even introduce them, just leaves the person hanging here!’

"Nuonuo, can you tell Aunt Fang who this is?" Sister Fang gently asked Nuonuo, who was happily eating.

"Big Uncle, Nuonuo’s Big Uncle!" Nuonuo said, smacking her little lips after swallowing the food in her mouth.

Sister Fang nodded in understanding. It had been mentioned before that Li Xiu might bring a younger brother back from his trip home, and it seemed this was him. She smiled at Li Bao and said, "You can call me Sister Fang. Your brother hired me to take care of Nuonuo. You should eat first. Your brother hasn’t seen your sister-in-law for a few days, so he’ll be a while. You’ve been on the train for so long, so eat up. After you finish, you can go to the west room to rest. I’ll call you once your brother... finishes up."

Li Bao nodded without a word. ’Back home, my brother was always incredibly clingy with my sister-in-law. It seems to have gotten even worse now that they’re in the Capital City. I saw it all the time back home, but it’s been a while. Seeing his reaction so suddenly just caught me off guard, that’s all!’

Since he was at his own brother’s house, Li Bao didn’t stand on ceremony. He devoured his food like a whirlwind, played with Nuonuo for a bit, said goodbye to Sister Fang, and took his luggage to the west room. He made his bed, yawned, and fell asleep as soon as he lay down. ’Whatever it is can wait until my brother and sister-in-law are done being lovey-dovey. I’m going to get some sleep first!’

Watching Li Bao’s series of actions, Sister Fang smiled. ’He’s a straightforward person. No wonder Zhou Lian had her tidy up the west room in advance, saying it was for her younger brother-in-law!’

As soon as he entered the room, he saw Zhou Lian sleeping, her face flushed and rosy. A sweet smile unconsciously spread across Li Xiu’s face. Just looking at the person before him made his chest feel full to bursting.

In her sleep, Zhou Lian felt a scorching gaze fixed on her. She suddenly opened her eyes and saw a tall, handsome man with a gentle smile standing elegantly before her. She rubbed her eyes and whispered, "Jin Chen, are you really back, or am I dreaming?"

Li Xiu closed the distance in a single stride and pulled Zhou Lian tightly into his arms. "Bao’er," he said softly, "I’m back. My Bao’er missed me!"

Feeling the strength in his embrace, Zhou Lian smiled sweetly and said, "Mhm, I did!"

"Bao’er, my Bao’er, I missed you to death." Li Xiu gently kissed Zhou Lian’s forehead, tenderly stroking her long, silky black hair and murmuring to her.

The two were lovey-dovey for a while, quietly enjoying the warm feeling. But Li Xiu remained sensible; Zhou Lian hadn’t eaten breakfast yet. He gently helped her up, and they went out to the courtyard together. After helping her wash up, Li Xiu saw the food that had been prepared in the pot, brought it out, and the two of them had brunch together.

It was too hot, so he had Zhou Lian stay in the room. Li Xiu went to the west room and peeked in; Li Bao was fast asleep, so he didn’t disturb him. Then Li Xiu went to the east wing and saw Sister Fang coaxing Nuonuo. He quietly backed out. ’Everyone’s fine. Perfect. I can have some time alone with my wife.’

Cradling Zhou Lian as they semi-reclined on the lounge chair, Li Xiu didn’t dare turn on the electric fan. Instead, he used a cattail-leaf fan to cool his wife, softly telling her about the situation back home. When she heard Li Xiu say that her three brothers wouldn’t be coming to the Capital City, Zhou Lian was utterly surprised.

"Jin Chen, how did they change their minds and decide not to come to the Capital City?" Zhou Lian asked curiously. ’It’s in my eldest brother’s character not to come, but for my second and third brothers to make that decision... that’s truly unexpected!’

Li Xiu didn’t hide anything from her and explained everything in detail, including how he had scared her three brothers. He knew Zhou Lian wouldn’t blame him. After all, they were his brothers-in-law. If they came to the Capital City and really couldn’t control themselves and did something wrong, he, as their brother-in-law, would be in an awkward position—unable to be too lenient or too harsh. It was better to let them develop back in their hometown, and he would definitely help them.

Zhou Lian shot him a playful, reproachful glare. ’This man is really full of tricks, scaring my three brothers so much they don’t dare come to the Capital City anymore. But Dad probably understands the reasoning. It’s not that I’m a disloyal sister who won’t help her own brothers. It’s just that all three of them are simple, honest men, and I really don’t trust the self-control of my second and third brothers. If they were to fall into bad ways here in the Capital City, Li Xiu and I would be to blame!’

’Li Xiu’s method was good; it was the best of both worlds. As for Li Bao, it wasn’t that she was biased. Li Bao had grown up under Li Xiu’s thumb. If he dared to go astray, Li Xiu would beat him half to death. The chances of him going bad were basically zero.’

Zhou Lian didn’t hide anything from Li Xiu either. She told him about Wang Song’s mother coming to the house to cause a scene, about the entire Zhang family coming to offer a formal apology, and how Wang Dongfang and the other two, worried about her, had closed their shop in the afternoon to come and stand guard at the house. She told him everything, just as it had happened.

She watched as Li Xiu’s face darkened, turning livid. He was breathing heavily but trying to keep it quiet so as not to startle Zhou Lian. After a long moment, he said, "Bao’er, don’t take it to heart. This isn’t over. I won’t let them get away with it!"

Zhou Lian understood how much Li Xiu prized her. She gently rubbed his rapidly rising and falling chest and said, "Jin Chen, calm down. It’s not worth getting angry over people like that. And don’t take it out on Zhang Hongying. But you can get back at Wang Song for this. The son should pay for the mother’s debts, after all!"

Li Xiu calmed his emotions a bit, almost laughing in exasperation at her words. ’That Zhang Hongying is pretty useless—can’t even handle her own man and let someone cause trouble for my wife. But my wife has a point. I can definitely make Wang Song pay for this!’